Reflection of the age (neoclassical) in the Gulliver's Travels.

Name: Sonal Baraiya.

Roll No.: 34.

Subject: P-2-The Neoclassical Literature.

Topic: Reflection of the age (Neoclassical) in the Gulliver’s Travels.

     Introduction:

                                       Neoclassical Literature was written between 1660 and 1798. It was a time of both formality and artificiality. In this Lesson, we will examine the characteristic, literature of this time period, especially it is reflect in Gulliver’s Travels.

   Definition:

                 Neoclassical Literature was written between 1660 and 1798.Writers of the Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the Romans and Greeks. Thus, it was ‘neo’, which means ‘new’, and ‘classical’, as in the day of the Roman and Greek classics. This was the era of logic, and of reason. It was preceded by the Renaissance and followed by the Romantic Era. Gist’s wrote about how brutal punishments failed to deter crime, whereas a decent society would be able to rehabilitate criminals through education, political, theorists wrote about the importance of carefully planned constitutions and controls over privilege, though they disagreed about what political form was best.

The Historical Background:

                                     In the beginning of the eighteenth century the old quarrels take on new features.

The Rise of the Political Parties:

                                      In the reign of Charles 2, the terms ‘Whig’ and ‘Tory’, first became current; by the year 1700 they were in everybody’s mouth. About that time domestic politicians became sharply cleft into two groups that were destined to become established as the basis of our political system. Domestic affairs, while they never approached the stage of bloodshed, took on a new acrimony that was to affected literature deeply. Actual points of political faith upon which the parties were divided are not of great importance to us here; but, generally speaking, we may say that the Whig party stood for the pre-eminence of personal freedom as opposed to the Tory view of royal divine right. Hence the Whigs supported the Hanoverian succession, whereas the Tories were Jacobites. The Tories, whose numbers were recruited chiefly from the landed classes, objected to the foreign war upon the score that they had to pay taxes to prolong it; and the Whigs, representing the trading classes generally, were alleged to be anxious to continue the war, as it brought them increased prosperity. In the matter of religion the Whigs were Low Churchmen and the Tories High Churchmen.

The Foreign War:

                        This war of the Spanish succession was brilliantly successful under the leadership of Marlborough, who, besides being a great general, was a prominent Tory politician, The Tories, as the war seemed to be indefinitely prolonged, supplanted (1710) the Whigs, with whom they had been co-operating in the earlier stages of the war, and in 1713 they concluded the war by the unfortunate Treaty of Utrecht. Contemporary literature is much concerned both with the war and the peace.

The Succession:

                      When Anne ascended the throne the succession seemed to be safe enough, for she had a numerous family. Nevertheless, her children all died before her and in 1701 it became necessary to pass the Act of settlement, a Whig measure by which the succession was settled upon the House of Hanover. On the death of Anne, in the year 1714, the succession took effect, in spite of the efforts of the Tories, who were anxious to restore the Stuarts. The events of this year 1714 deeply influenced the lives of Addison, Steele, Swift, and many other writers of lesser degree.

The Spirit of the Age:

                             After the succession of the House of Hanover the first half of the eighteenth century was a period of stabilization and steadily growing wealth and prosperity. The evils of the approaching Industrial Revolution had not yet been realized, and the country, still free from any suggestion of acrimonious class consciousness, underwent a period of comfortable aristocratic rule, in which local government rested on the squires, typified by Sir Roger DE Coverley. It was an age of tolerance, moderation, and common sense, which, in cultured circles at least, sought to refine manners and introduce into life the rule of sweet reasonableness. The balance of political power in spite of the fifty years superiority of the Whig oligarchy, was so even as to preclude fanatical party policies, while the established church pursued a placid middle way and all religion was free from strife over dogma and the fanaticism which it called ‘enthusiasm’ until Wesley and Whitefield began the Evangelical Revival. This middle way of control and reason, and the distrust of ‘enthusiasm’, are faithfully reflected in the literature of the period.

The predominance of prose:

                                      The age of Pope intensified the movement that, as we have seen, began after the Restoration. The drift away from the poetry of passion was more pronounced than ever, the ideals of ‘Wit’ and ‘common sense’ were more zealously pursued, and the lyrical note was almost unheard. In its place we find in poetry the overmastering desire for neatness and perspicuity, for edge and point in style, and for correctness in technique. These aims received expression in the devotion to the heroic couplet, the aptest medium for the purpose. In this type of poetry the supreme master is Pope; apart from him the age produced no great poet. On the other hand, the other great names of the period-Swift, Addison, Steele, Defoe- are those of prose- writers primarily, and prose- writers of a very high quality.

                                                    Some other outstanding conditions of the age remain to be considered. Most of them, it will be noticed, help to give prose its dominating position:

(1)    Political Writing:

               We have already noticed the rise of the two political parties, accompanied by an increased acerbity of political passion. This development gave a fresh importance to men of literary ability, for both parties competed for the assistance of their pens, bribed the author with places and pensions, and admitted them more or less deeply into their counsels. In previous ages authors had to depend on their patrons, often capricious being or upon the length of their subscription lists; they now acquired an independence and an importance that turned the heads of some of them. Hardly a writer of the time is free from the political bios. After being a Whig, Swift became a virulent Tory; Addison was a tepid Whig; Steele was Whig and Tory in turn. It was indeed the Golden Age of political pamphleteer, and the writers made the most of it.

(2)   The Clubs and Coffee-houses:

                                          Politicians are necessarily gregarious, and the increased activity in politics led to a great addition to the number of political clubs and coffee-houses, which became the foci of fashionable and public life. In the first number of the Tatler Steele announces as a matter of course that the activities of his new journal will be based upon the clubs. All accounts of Gallantry, pleasure, and Entertainment shall be under the article of White’s Chocolate-House; poetry under that of wills coffee-House; Learning under the title of Grecian; foreign and Domestic News you will have from Saint James’ coffee-house. These coffee-houses became the ‘clearing-houses’ for literary business, and from them branched purely literary associations such as the famous scribblers and Kit-Cat Clubs, those haunts of the fashionable writers which figure so prominently in the writings of the period.

(3)   Periodical Writing:

                            The development of the periodical will be noticed elsewhere. It is sufficient here to point out that the struggle for political mastery led both factions to issue a swarm of Examiners, and similar publications. These journals were run by a band of vigorous and facile prose- writers, who in their differing degrees of excellence represent almost a new type in our literature.

(4)   The New Publishing Houses:

                                      The interest in politics, and probably the decline in the drama, caused a great increase in the size of the reading public. In its turn this aroused the activities of a number of men who became the forerunners of the modern publishing houses. Such were Edmund Curll (1675-1747), Jacob Tonson (1656-1736), and John Dunton (1659-1733). These men employed numbers of needy writers, who produced the translations, adaptations, and other popular works of the time. It is unwise to judge a publisher by what authors say of him, but the universal condemnation leveled against Curll and his kind compels the belief that they were a breed of scoundrels who preyed upon author. The miserable race of hack-writers- venomously attacked by Pope in The Dunciad- who existed on the scanty bounty of such men lived largely in a thoroughfare near moor fields called Grub Street, the name of which has become synonymous with literary drudgery.

(5)   The New Morality:

                          The immorality of the Restoration, which had been almost entirely a court phenomenon and was largely the reaction against extreme Puritanism, soon spent itself. The natural process of time was hastened by opinion in high quarters. William 3 was a severe moralist, and Anne, his successor, was of the same character. Thus we soon see a new tone in the writing of the time and a new attitude to life and morals. Addison, in an early number of The Spectator, puts the new fashion in his own admirable way;

       ‘‘I shall Endeavor to enliven morality with wit, and to        temper with morality.’’

Another development of the same spirit is seen in the revised opinion of women, who are treated with new respect and dignity. Much coarseness is still to be felt, especially in which Swift, for instance, can be quite vile; but the general upward tendency is undoubtedly there.

                          

                                                     The political phenomenon is represented in Gulliver’s Travels via the analogy of the Tramecksan and Slamecksan where the former stands for the Tory and the latters stands for the Whigs. This analogy is further laid bare during the scene where the leader of Brobdingnag asks Gulliver if he supported the Tories or the Whigs. This deliberate reference to English politics is one of the major features of the period because politics religion and literature were interwoven. Gulliver is presented as an ideal neoclassical man who has a sport for knowledge as is evident in his acquisition of the language and cosmological precincts of the places he visits. Gulliver is shown as the neoclassical man who considers little things to be of utmost importance in the world order. Gulliver’s attention to details and description echoes the empiricism of John Locke that was a major philosophy in neoclassical England.

                                                    The portrayal of Lilliput and Blefuscu by Gulliver is another aspect of neoclassical realism. Lilliput has been regarded by innumerable critics to be England. While Blefuscu has been accrued to be France. This is easily defendable through the use of certain other character and scene. The Emperor of Lilliput is described as being analogous to king George-1 of England. The portrayal of Reldresal is similar to Sir George Carteret, the Secretary of state during Swift’s time and also a very good friend of Swift as Reldresal is a good friend of Gulliver.

                                                    At the beginning of the novel, he presents the reader with a map which he uses. Gulliver’s Travels, in keeping to the rationalism of neoclassicism, doesn't just appeal to the imagination but to the intellect and reason.

                                                   Satire has always been a weapon for change. It exposes human vices and follies in other to correct through ridicule, parody, burlesque, irony, sarcasm is perhaps the golden age of English satirical tradition.

                                                     Classicism is likewise another aspect of the neoclassical society. The appellation that has been given to this period is self- explanatory of this. The revival of classical learning and knowledge was a major feature of this period. The society of projectors which Gulliver encounters in Laputa coupled with this island’s fascination with science, technology and modernity is an aspect of the neoclassical society that has been reflected. The people of Laputa are only concerned with futurism and technological projection and Jonathan Swift uses his novel as a mirror of this time in neoclassical society.

                                                      Another aspect of the neoclassical society that has been transposed into Swift’s work is the use of allegory. Jonathan Swift’s uses Gulliver’s Travels as an allegory of man’s nature. The characters used in the novel are all allegorical. The portrayal of Lilliput and Blefuscu are allegories of the miniature thinking of man. The portrayal of the Houyhnhnms is perhaps more allegorical than the others. The Houyhnhnms represents a certain utopia which Swift has shown as the ‘‘ideal state’’ of man.

                                                       There is also the feature of  which was prominent at the time. Intertextuality in literature is a phenomenon whereby a text echoes the themes or conventions of other texts.

                                                       Research work has done a symmetrical study of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels pari passu the neoclassical conventions and one basic fact has been established above others; that certain features of the neoclassical period have been transposed in this work and it is these features that have made Gulliver’s Travels to be reconciled with the appellation of neoclassical literature.

                                                     We see in the first journey of Gulliver, he reached one island that is called Lilliput. But before we discussed on Enlightenment in neoclassical era. We see how Enlightenment culture reflected in Gulliver’s Travels. The Enlightenment culture of eighteenth century England tended to view humans optimistically as noble souls rather than vulgar bodies, Swift’s emphasis on the common filth of life is a slap in the face of the philosophers of his day. Thus, when Gulliver urinates to put out a fire in Lilliput, or when Brobdingnagian flies defecate on his meals, or when the scientist in Lagado works to transform excrement back into food, we are reminded how very little human reason has to do with everyday existence. Swift suggests that the human condition in general is dirtier and lowlier than we might like to believe it is. In Lilliput there are two parties, who are fought to each other that are, first Lilliputians and second is Blefuscu as well as ‘Whig’ and ‘Tory’. In the neoclassical era humankind’s wildly excessive pride. They are highly aristocratic people by their nature. That is also seemed in Gulliver’s Travels. The Lilliputians symbolize humankind’s wildly excessive pride in its own puny existence. Swift fully intends the irony of representing the tiniest race visited by Gulliver as by far the most vainglorious and smug, both collectively and individually. Lilliputians imagine themselves to be grand. In neoclassical people believed in show off, that is also we seemed in Gulliver’s Travels. The Lilliputians show off not only to Gulliver but to themselves as well.

                                                         In the second voyage Gulliver reached on Brobdingnag Island. In which we seemed neoclassical influenced very highly. For Example – In neoclassical era people were interested in political, and probably the decline in the drama, caused a great increase in the size of the reading public. We seemed also in Brobdingnag Island. In which king who is doesn't know anything about politics, but when Gulliver teaches to him about politics, he was very interested to learn politics.

The Brobdingnagians symbolize the private, personal, and physical side of humans when examined up close and in great detail. They are not merely ridiculous – some aspects of them are disgusting, like their gigantic stench and the excrement left by their insects, but others are noble, like the queen’s as Queen Anne, goodwill toward Gulliver and the king’s commonsense views of politics.

                                                          In the third voyage, Gulliver reached Laputa Island. The Laputans represent the folly of theoretical knowledge that has no relation to human life and no use in the actual world. As a profound cultural conservative Swift was a critic of the newfangled ideas springing up around him at the dawn of the eighteenth century Enlightenment, a period of great intellectual experimentation and theorization. He much preferred the traditional knowledge that had been tested over centuries. Laputa symbolizes the absurdity of knowledge that has never been tested or applied the ludicrous side of Enlightenment intellectualism. Even down below in Balnibarbi, where the local academy is more inclined to practical application, knowledge is not made socially useful as swift demands. Indeed, theoretical knowledge there has proven positively disastrous, resulting in the ruin of agriculture and architecture and the impoverishment of the population. Their theories have not made them wise, but neurotic and disagreeable. The Laputans do not symbolize reason itself but rather the pursuit of a form of knowledge that is not directly related to the improvement of human life.

                                                     Gulliver’s fourth and last voyage in which he reached One Island called Houyhnhnms. As compared to the all Island, this Island, Houyhnhnms is very satirically present by Swift. In which Swift highly describe the eighteenth century. In neoclassical age, it was an age of tolerance, moderation, and common sense. In which Houyhnhnms are having common sense. The Houyhnhnms seem like model citizens. The Houyhnhnms represent an ideal of rational existence, a life governed by sense and moderation of which philosophers since Plato have long dreamed. Houyhnhnms are believed in tolerance, they have neither need to lie nor any word for lying. They do not use force but only strong exhortation. Gulliver’s intense grief when he is forced to leave them suggests that they have made an impact on him greater than of any other society he has visited.

                                                        Thus, we can say that the neoclassical age highly reflect in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.